International Territorial Level


International Territorial Level is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of the United Kingdom for statistical purposes, used by the Office for National Statistics. From 2003 and until 2020 it functioned as part of the European Union and European Statistical System's geocode standard Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS.
Following Brexit, the ONS set to develop a domestic statistical classification framework separate from NUTS. Currently, the ITLs are a mirror to the pre-existing NUTS system, they retain the same three level hierarchy and boundaries used for NUTS in the United Kingdom since 2018, with the next review scheduled for 2024. ITLs are set to follow a similar review timetable to NUTS, being reviewed every three years. The ONS will develop new official GSS codes of ITL geography aligned with the existing NUTS codes. From 1 January 2021, the ONS encourages "ITL" be used as a replacement to the "NUTS" designation, with lookups between NUTS and ITL maintained and published until 2023.
The current ITL classification is a mirror of the previous NUTS classification with slight modification, the ONS lists 12 regions at ITL 1, 41 regions at ITL 2, and 179 regions at ITL 3. "UK" in the NUTS codes were replaced with "TL".
The last NUTS classification is dated 21 November 2016 and was effective from 1 January 2018, listed 12 regions at NUTS 1, 40 regions at NUTS 2, and 174 regions at NUTS 3 level.

NUTS 2018 codes

LevelCorresponding subdivisions#
NUTS 1Wales,
Scotland,
Northern Ireland,
9 statistical regions in England		12
NUTS 2Northern Ireland,
counties in England,
groups of districts in Greater London,
groups of unitary authorities in Wales,
groups of council areas in Scotland		40
NUTS 3counties, unitary authorities, or districts in England,
groups of unitary authorities in Wales,
groups of council areas in Scotland,
groups of districts in Northern Ireland		174

NUTS 2015 codes (now superseded)

Demographic statistics by ITL 1 region

The 12 ITL regions of the United Kingdom are listed below. Population numbers are for mid-2019, and areas are in square kilometres. Data is from the Office for National Statistics.
ITL 1 regionPopulationArea
East Midlands4,835,92815,623
East of England6,236,07219,119
Greater London8,961,9891,572
Northern Ireland1,893,66713,793
North East England2,669,9418,574
North West England7,341,19614,107
Scotland5,463,30077,911
South East England9,180,13519,072
South West England5,624,69623,837
Wales3,152,87920,736
West Midlands5,934,03712,998
Yorkshire and the Humber5,502,96715,405
United Kingdom66,796,807242,749

History

NUTS 2003

In the first version in 2003, North Eastern Scotland was coded UKM1, and Highlands and Islands was coded UKM4.
The codes in this scheme start with "UKC" to avoid confusion with codes in the previous system, which identified 11 regions of England using codes that started with "UK1" through "UK9" plus "UKA" and "UKB".

NUTS 2006

NUTS 2006 came into force on 1 January 2008.

NUTS 2010

NUTS 2010 came into force on 1 January 2012.
2010 changes to NUTS 2 also resulting in changes with NUTS 3 regions
  • The combined area of UKD2 and UKD5 were replaced by UKD6 and UKD7, due to the transfer of Halton to the Merseyside NUTS region from Cheshire. This resulted in the following changes to the underlying NUTS 3 areas: UKD22 being split into UKD62 and UKD63 ; The areas of Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral were not changed as NUTS 3 areas however to reflect their transfer within NUTS 2 areas were respectively renumbered from. The two areas of UKD51 and UKD21 were amended by the transfer of Halton from the latter to former to form the new areas of UKD71 and UKD61.
2010 changes to NUTS 3 areas without changes occurring to NUTS 2 areas
  • UKE43 was replaced by UKE44 and UKE45
  • UKF23 was replaced by UKF24 and UKF25
  • UKG34 was replaced by UKG36 and UKG37
  • UKG35 was replaced by UKG38 and UKG39.
  • Bedfordshire CC UKH22 was replaced by UKH24 and UKH25

    NUTS 2013

NUTS 2013 came into force on 1 January 2015.
2015 changes to NUTS 3 areas without changes to NUTS 2 areas:
  • UKJ42 was replaced by UKJ43 UKJ44 UKJ45 UKJ46
  • UKJ23 was replaced by UKJ25 and UKJ26
  • UKJ24 was replaced by UKJ27 and UKJ28
  • UKJ33 was replaced by UKJ35, UKJ36, UKJ37
  • UKD43 was replaced by UKD44, UKD45, UKD46 and UKD47
  • UKD31 was replaced by UKD33, UKD34 and UKD35
  • UKD32 was replaced by UKD36 and UKD37
  • UKH13 was replaced by UKH15, UKH16 and UKH17
  • UKH33 was replaced by UKH34, UKH35, UKH36 and UKH37
In 2015 the Greater London NUTS 1 area was left unchanged however the previous NUTS 2 area of inner and outer London were abolished and with the previous NUTS 3 areas becoming NUTS 2 areas. Thus NUTS 2 of Inner London West UKI11 becoming the NUTS 3 area of UKI3 and likewise: Inner London East, Outer London East and North East, Outer London South and Outer London West and North West. The NUTS 3 areas are now a single or a group of two or three boroughs.

NUTS 2016

  • UKM2 is replaced with UKM7 along with associated NUTS 3 areas
  • UKM3 is replaced with UKM8 and UKM9

    ITL 2021

Following Brexit, the classification used by the ONS was replaced with ITLs. Between 2021 and the next review scheduled for 2024, the ITLs are a mirror of the NUTS classification adopted in 2018. All NUTS codes containing "UK" were changed to use "TL" for Territorial Level.

ITL 2025

Local administrative units

Below the ITL levels, the two LAU levels are:
LevelSubdivisions#
LAU 1Lower tier authorities or individual unitary authorities ;
Individual unitary authorities or LECs ;
Districts 		415
LAU 2Wards 10400

The two LAU levels are maintained by the UK Office for National Statistics within the ONS coding system.
''The LAU codes of the United Kingdom can be downloaded here:''